A Critique of South Africa Indigenous Knowledge Policy
Keywords:
globalisation, local resources, traditional enterprises, national and international safeguard protocols, South Africa indigenous knowledge policy
Abstract
Globalisation has strained local resources and traditional enterprises in many developing countries. The United Nations has devised legal frameworks and operational guidelines for all countries to preserve the current situation from further damage. Many African countries have also adopted strategies to safeguard some particular local resources and also to create incentives for locals to commercialise their traditional crafts. South Africa has also adopted its own policy to safeguard local resources and promote traditional enterprises. But unlike the United Nations and the African countries whose policies are based on a case by case basis in which specific protocols are enacted for particular cases, South Africa has adopted a single comprehensive strategy for all local resources and traditional activities. The paper evaluates the strengths and weaknesses of this unique ‘one stop' approach and assesses whether it can be used as a model by other African countries for managing their local resources and traditional enterprises in the twenty-first century.
References
Works Cited
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Achebe, C. (1964). The Role of the Writer in a New Nation. Nigeria Magazine No 81, 157-160.
Arowole, D. (2013). The Effect of Western Civilization and Culture on Africa. Higher Education
Studies Volume 3, No 4, 50-59.
Bagley, MA. (2018). Toward an Effective Indigenous Knowledge Protection Regime: A Case Study of South Africa. Occasional Papers No. 207. Centre for International Governance Innovation: West Waterloo, Ontario, Canada; www.cigionline.org, 1-25.
Battiste, M. (2002). Indigenous Knowledge and Pedagogy in First Nations Education: A Literary Review with Recommendations. Paris: UNESCO Press; https://www.nippisingu.ca.
Biney, A. (2011). Nkrumah's Political Writings, 1958–1966. New York: Palgrave Macmillan.
Cunningham, AB. (1993). African medicinal plants. Paris, France: United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Press.
Department of Science and Technology (DST), Republic of South Africa. (2004). Vision and Goals for an Indigenous Knowledge Systems (IKS) Policy for South Africa. Indigenous Knowledge Systems. Pretoria: Department of Science and Technology; http://www.dst.gov.za.
Domfeh, KA. (2007). Indigenous Knowledge Systems and the Need for Policy and Institutional Reforms. Indigenous Knowledge Systems and Tribes Volume 1, 41-52.
Green, LJF. (2008). The Indigenous Knowledge Systems Policy of 2004: Challenges for South African Universities. Social Dynamics: A Journal of African Studies Volume 33, No 1; http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/rsdy20, 130-154.
Greenberg, JH. (1946). The Classification of African Languages. Chicago: American Anthropological Association.
Guthrie, M. (1967). Comparative Bantu: An Introduction to the comparative linguistics and prehistory. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press/Encyclopaedia Britannica; www.britannica.com.
Hartshorne, K. (1992). Crisis and Challenge: Black Education 1910-1990. Cape Town: Oxford University Press.
Hegel, GWF. (1914). Lectures on the philosophy of history translated from the German by Sibree, J. London: J Bell and Sons; https://archive.org.
Kanu, Y. (2007). Traditional Education Reconstruction in Africa: The Case of Sierra Leone.
African Studies Quarterly Volume 10, No 3, 65-84.
Kaya, HO and Seleti, YO. (2013). African indigenous knowledge systems and relevance of higher education in South Africa. International Education Journal of Comparative Perspectives Volume
12, No 1, 30-44.
Magocha, M. (2013). Indigenous Knowledge Systems (IKS): Application and their impact on industrial activities of companies in Africa. Ethiopian e-journal for Research and Innovation Foresight Volume 5, No 2, 54-70.
Maret, P. (2013). Archaeologies of the Bantu Expansion. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Masaka, D. (2016). Impact of Western Colonial Education on Zimbabwe's Traditional and Postcolonial Education Systems. Unpublished Ph.D. Dissertation. Pretoria: University of South Africa.
Mazzocchi, F. (2006). Western science and traditional knowledge. European Molecular Biology
Organization (EMBO) Reports Volume 7, No 5, 463–466.
Meinhof, C. (1932). Introduction to the phonology of the Bantu languages. Berlin: Reimer and Vohsen.
Mosweunyane, D. (2010). The African Education Evolution from Traditional Training to Formal Education. Afro-Asian Journal of Social Sciences Volume 1, No 1, 1-13.
Mutekwe, E. (2015). Towards an African Philosophy of Education for Indigenous Knowledge Systems in Africa. Creative Education Volume 6, 1294-1305.
Njiraine, D, Ocholla, DN and Onyancha, OB. (2010). Indigenous Knowledge Research in Kenya and South Africa: An Informetric Study. Indilinga: African Journal of Indigenous Knowledge Systems Volume 9, No 2, 194-210.
Ocholla, D. (2007). Marginalised Knowledge: An Agenda for Indigenous Knowledge Development and Integration with Other Forms of Knowledge. International Review of Information Ethics (IRIE) Volume 7, 1-10.
Okpilike, FME. (2012). Western Education and the Neglect of African Cultural Values in Nigerian School Systems. Journal of Education and Practice Volume 3, No 14, 29-32.
Oxford English Dictionary. (2016). Oxford: Oxford University Press; https://en.oxforddictionaries.com.
Patin E, Lopez M, Grollemund R, Verdu P and Harmant, C. (2017). Dispersals and genetic adaptation of Bantu-speaking populations in Africa. Science Volume 356, 543-546.
Ramoupi, NL. (2014). African Languages Policy in the Education of South Africa: 20 Years of Freedom or Subjugation. Journal of Higher Education in Africa/Revue de l'enseignement supérieur en Africa Volume 12, No. 2; https://www.jstor.org, 53-93.
Senghor, LS. (1956). The Spirit of Civilisation or the Laws of African Negro Culture. Presence
Africaine No. 8-10, 51-64.
Shonhai, VF. (2016). Analysing South African Indigenous Knowledge Policy and Its Alignment to Government's Attempt to Promote Indigenous Vegetables. Unpublished Ph.D. Dissertation: University of Kwa-Zulu Natal, Durban.
Statistics South Africa. 2004. Statistical release P0302: Mid-year population estimates, South Africa 2004. Pretoria: Statistics South Africa; www.statssa.gov.za.
Third World Network (TWN). (2004). Developing Countries' Proposal for Establishing a Development Agenda for WIPO; https://www.twn/wipo.org.
Ukpabi, SC. (1970). Western Education and African Culture. Présence Africaine Volume 75, No 3, 163-172.
UNESCO. Local and Indigenous Knowledge Systems (LINKS); https://en.unesco.org/links.
United Nations (UN). (1992). United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity. Rio de Janeiro, Brazil: Publications of the United Nations General Assembly; www.un.org.
United Nations (UN). (2007). United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. New York: Publications of the United Nations General Assembly; www.un.org.
Webber, M. (1958). Essays in Sociology translated from the German by Gerth, H and Mills, W.
Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Wikipedia. (2020). Authenticité (Zaire); https://en.wikipedia.org.
WIPO. (2018). Message from WIPO Director-General Gurry on the International Day of the World's Indigenous Peoples; https://www.wipo.news.2018.
World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO). (2006). Vision and Goals for an Indigenous Knowledge Systems (IKS) Policy for South Africa. Policy Papers, Studies and Articles; https://www.wipo.int/policy/link0007.
Published
2021-12-21
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